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Most people would love to have a more healthy work-life balance.
But the reality is that work weeks have grown longer, more
stressful and less healthy, physically and emotionally. Too
often, success in the professional sphere comes at the expense of
personal and family lives.

That’s what Lisa Druxman discovered after having her
first child in 2001. She had been working 80-hour weeks
training corporate executives in physical fitness. I was one
of her students. Both of us felt spending time with our
children and staying healthy were priorities but we wanted to
continue working. We both shared a desire to find a better
balance between our careers, higher aspirations and
motherhood. She knew didn’t want to return to 80-hour weeks;
she started FIT4MOM and interested me in joining her in
building the firm. I worked as a franchise owner and now serve
on the corporate leadership team.

For other mothers interested in being involved in starting or
running businesses, here are some tips to help you realize
your dreams:

1. Being a mom doesn’t preclude being a manager or an
entrepreneur. Motherhood is one of the most
physically and emotionally demanding jobs -- and also one of the
most rewarding. The experience turns can turn her world upside
down yet can give a woman a new perspective on what’s really
important: family, physical and emotional health and overall
well-being.

And being a mom doesn’t preclude a woman from having a successful
career, staying active and healthy and having a close social
network of peers. Today, I’m the mother of three kids yet I also
help run a business. It's possible to do both.

2. Always think bigger. Lisa started what she
thought would just be a small class, Stroller Strides, never
imagining it would grow into a company with corporate staff and
thousands of clients. The moral of this story? Don't be too
limiting in your approach.

3. Build in flexibility. Everyone is
busy. Life constantly throws out challenges: kids who are
sick or a babysitter who cancels. So it’s important to foster a
company culture that grants employees flexibility and supports
their having a balanced work and home life. This might mean
letting staff work remotely or participate in a video call
instead of flying across the country for a meeting.

4. Make sure the technology supports the
culture. Without flexible technology -- tools that
can be accessed on the go or a team calendar and work document
that can be updated in real time from anywhere, anytime -- the
work environment is too rigid. Apps, like Google Docs and Google
Hangouts, support a flexible work culture.

With Docs, it's possible to access and update company documents,
such as human resources forms, vacation requests or contact
information, on mobile phones wherever staffers are. This allows
for the ability to quickly request time off or find a colleague’s
phone number even outside the office.

But the fact that people work remotely and are spread out across
the country doesn’t mean they are any less connected. With
Hangouts, used regularly for company-wide staff meetings and
instructor training sessions, team members can interact seemingly
face-to-face no matter their location.

5. Make the business about more than profits.
It's important to support healthy communities, both at a local
and national level. (My company raises money for Charity
Miles and facilitates education for March of Dimes and Healthy
Child Healthy World.) Businesses Should give back to the
communities they’re in and show that they have a purpose beyond
simply boosting the bottom line.